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'At times they are illegal' - Japanese boss backs his prop in Healy row

Ireland's Cian Healy has found himself in the eye of a Japanese storm in the build-up to Saturday's game with the hosts (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Jamie Joseph has doubled down on Japan’s claims that Ireland scrummage illegally. Head coach Joseph backed up prop Yusuke Kizu’s accusation that Ireland prop Cian Healy “steps out” and scrummages in at an illegal angle.

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Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt insisted his side have one of the least penalised scrums in the Test arena in offering a frustrated response to Kizu on Thursday. But after Japan had named their team – confirming squad captain Michael Leitch’s demotion to the bench – Brave Blossoms boss Joseph refused to back away from Kizu’s comments about Ireland’s scrum.

“First thing, Kizu is a young man, probably his first media experience, so that would be the first thing around Kizusan,” said Joseph. “We’re coming up against a very strong scrum. Yes, at times they are illegal, but at all times they are a very strong scrum.

“We know that’s a difficult part of the game, but we’ve really improved our scrum and lineout recently. And it’s an area we’ve been focusing on all week.”

Hosts Japan saw off Russia 30-10 to kick-start the first World Cup in Asia, with the players admitting they had been overawed by the scale of the occasion in Tokyo on Friday. Now the Brave Blossoms will host Ireland in Shizuoka, with both teams eyeing a big step forward in Pool A with a victory.

(Continue reading below…)

Joseph admitted Japan will need “the game of their lives” to beat Ireland and insisted skipper Leitch still has a big role to play despite not starting the encounter. Pieter Labuschagne will captain Japan from the off, with Joseph backing Leitch to have a big impact off the bench.

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“What I believe around the game, in terms of our bench, we’ve got to have an impact. If we’re going to be in a position to win the match, it’s going to come down to the last five or 10 minutes,” said Joseph. “And we’ll need clear leadership. Michael has had an injury all year, he’s only played four or five games, and he’s a very key player. But we have a lot of quality loose forwards and in-form players.

“We have in-form players playing really well and experienced players coming on. So as a coach I get to have both things. Labuschagne, what I expect from him as an openside flanker is to get around the ball all the time.

“He doesn’t speak Japanese, he speaks English, but so does the referee. His leadership is natural, his work around the game is outstanding. I’ve been impressed with him as a leader in the last two years at the Sunwolves and he is respected by the players, which is key.

“It’s a huge game for us and these players will need to play the best game of their lives; that’s what they’ll need to be successful on Saturday. In terms of the legacy for the tournament, as a team we want to do something we’ve never done before and that is make the top eight.

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“That will leave a legacy for rugby in Japan, but the quality of our play and how we conduct ourselves as a team is also important.”

– Press Association 

WATCH: RugbyPass scoured the streets of Toyko to track down a clairvoyant cat who is predicting the #RWC2019

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AM 43 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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